Luna, 32, his wife and two children finished their self-guided tour through the caverns about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. They decided to have a picnic before visiting the bat flight program, said Aleta Knight, program director for the caverns.

''The father and son were walking to their car in the parking lot to charge a camcorder when he was struck,'' Knight told The Avalanche-Journal Sunday.

Several visitors in the parking lot ran for help, and medical assistance arrived on the scene in a matter of minutes, she said.

''When our ranger arrived, (Luna) was semi-conscious, coughing a little and breathing,'' she said. ''She got out her equipment, and he had gone pulseless.''

The ranger shocked Luna once with a portable defibrillator and, with the help of three nurses who were visiting the park, continued cardiopulmonary resuscitation for about 15 minutes until the ambulance arrived.

Although Luna's son was knocked down by the strike, rangers reported him suffering only minor abrasions. No other injuries were reported.

CPR continued to be administered during Luna's transport to Carlsbad Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, hospital supervisor Jean Snell said.

Funeral services for Luna are pending with Calvillo Funeral Home in Lubbock.

Saturday's fatal lightning strike was the first in the park's history, Knight said. The park is equipped with lightning detectors and weather radios and is evacuated if a serious storm threatens, she said.

''We had no advance warning,'' she said. ''We have lightning detectors that alert us if there is lightning within a certain distance, but it wasn't activated at all.''

Knight said she spoke with her rangers Sunday about the accident.

''They all said we couldn't have foreseen this happening,'' she said. ''We get these little storms in the afternoons fairly frequently. It was nothing we could have planned for.''

According to findings by the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration, most lightning strikes occur during June, July and August and mostly between the hours of 2 p.m and 6 p.m. on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.